Almer Technologies wins CHF 150,000 to develop augmented reality glasses to increase efficiency for frontline workers in technical industries
10.06.2022
Almer is a startup developing compact and lightweight augmented reality (AR) glasses to deliver effortless communication for frontline workers. These glasses allow for hands-free operation and long wearing times and feature personal eyeglass correction, foldable temples, excellent image quality, and specialized remote assistance software. This project is the first that provides both AR hardware and specialized software as a service. Almer will use the CHF 150,000 Venture Kick award to strengthen market visibility and build up the sales team in Switzerland.
 The Almer Technologies team
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When technicians at industrial companies encounter problems with machines, experts located at different global stations are required to travel to the production sites in order to solve the issues. This travel can total exorbitant sums of money and produces a considerable amount of CO2 emissions. With Almer’s AR solution, remote workers can wear an elegant solution throughout the course of a workday. The built-in camera allows the experts to see what their specialists around the world are seeing. The experts can highlight objects in real-time within the worker’s field of view, allowing problems to be solved as easily and quickly as if the expert was standing next to the worker in person.
The Almer project AR glasses allow for the simultaneous perception of reality and additional virtual information, which addresses two major shortcomings of the AR glasses available on the market today: Limited application possibilities and short battery capacity. Addressing the currently observable trend towards remote support and commissioning— further accelerated by the Coronavirus pandemic— Almer has created a solution that can be worn all day long and that is capable of supporting a wide range of applications. Furthermore, Almer has developed the first self-contained AR glasses with foldable conductive temples. The startup expects that their glasses will allow for a 10% increase in worker productivity and that each pair will save approximately 5,500 kg of CO2 per year.
The Almer team is a dynamic mix of young ETH Zürich graduates in the fields of robotics and computational science, as well as experienced entrepreneurs from the optoelectronics, mechanical engineering, and marketing industries. Sebastian Beetschen, CEO, sharpened his experience with AR computer vision while working at Microsoft Hololens. Timon Binder, CTO, graduated from EPFL with a Master of Robotics and a Minor in Management, Technology and Entrepreneurship.
“Venture Kick gave us the kick to transform Almer from a tech project to a growing business,” said Beetschen. Almer is on track to begin production in August 2022 and to start deliveries in September 2022. The Venture Kick awards will strengthen Almer’s market visibility and allow them to build up their sales team in Switzerland.
Almer Technologies: in the back from left to right: Daniel Puerta (Head Supply Chain & Manufacturing), David Lorenz (Electrical Engineer from the research partner ZHAW), Stefan Kunz (Electrical Engineer from the research partner ZHAW), Stefan Pauli (Research projects and use case development), in the front from left to right: Timon Binder (CTO), Sebastian Beetschen (CEO)
The Almer project AR glasses allow for the simultaneous perception of reality and additional virtual information, which addresses two major shortcomings of the AR glasses available on the market today: Limited application possibilities and short battery capacity. Addressing the currently observable trend towards remote support and commissioning— further accelerated by the Coronavirus pandemic— Almer has created a solution that can be worn all day long and that is capable of supporting a wide range of applications. Furthermore, Almer has developed the first self-contained AR glasses with foldable conductive temples. The startup expects that their glasses will allow for a 10% increase in worker productivity and that each pair will save approximately 5,500 kg of CO2 per year.
The Almer team is a dynamic mix of young ETH Zürich graduates in the fields of robotics and computational science, as well as experienced entrepreneurs from the optoelectronics, mechanical engineering, and marketing industries. Sebastian Beetschen, CEO, sharpened his experience with AR computer vision while working at Microsoft Hololens. Timon Binder, CTO, graduated from EPFL with a Master of Robotics and a Minor in Management, Technology and Entrepreneurship.
“Venture Kick gave us the kick to transform Almer from a tech project to a growing business,” said Beetschen. Almer is on track to begin production in August 2022 and to start deliveries in September 2022. The Venture Kick awards will strengthen Almer’s market visibility and allow them to build up their sales team in Switzerland.
Almer Technologies: in the back from left to right: Daniel Puerta (Head Supply Chain & Manufacturing), David Lorenz (Electrical Engineer from the research partner ZHAW), Stefan Kunz (Electrical Engineer from the research partner ZHAW), Stefan Pauli (Research projects and use case development), in the front from left to right: Timon Binder (CTO), Sebastian Beetschen (CEO)